Photo by Tom Poet
In one day Cutch managed to fly 286 miles. He made it from Long Island to South Carolina in two days. Five days later he was in Cuba, he then crossed the Caribbean and by September 27th he has in Columbia. Tagged with a GPS transmitter he was being watched the whole time by ornithologist Rob Bierregaard. On the 29th Cutch’s signal stopped moving. Rest assured there were no Colombian cartels involved in his untimely demise. He died while doing what osprey do, hunt for fish.
Photo “borrowed” from Mr.Bierregaard website
Cutch was accidentally impaled on a piece of a tree sticking out of a pond on the Chico Mono Ranch. At first Cutch’s death was thought to be an assassination but it turned out to be an accidental suicide. Mr. Bierregaard thought Cutch may have been shot down at a fish farm or something but it turns out he just didn’t see that little bit of branch sticking out of the water.
Yeah I “borrowed” this one too
There is still hope for North Fork Bob an osprey who is figured to arrive here on the 1st or 2nd of April. North Fork Bob has had a transmitter on since August of 2010 and still appears to be going strong. That’s good news.
I know the osprey by me is back already and as far as I know he/she doesn’t have a name. I just call the osprey TP for the piece of white paper sticking out of the nest.
Photo by Tom Poet
TP taking off after I went to close to the nest
For the full story on Cutch and how he made national news check out the story in The Suffolk Times. I’ll be keeping an eye on TP since he/she is right by where I go fishing with my girls. I can always feel spring coming on when the birds of prey arrive on the shores. And Please remember to always check the water before diving. Have a great summer.
Check out the Cutch’s flight and story here.
Cutch was a more prolific traveler than I but hopefully I won’t come to an equally bad and untimely end. Sad! Thanks for sharing the story and your pictures of TP.
The saddest bird story I have is a recent one. I was driving along I-88 in the Chicago area, a heavily trafficked road, as are most of them, and a hawk came gliding over the highway. I was enjoying his beauty when he soared into the side of a semi which was driving on the opposite side of the highway and came up quickly and he plummeted to the ground. Thankfully that’s all I saw but I was so shocked and saddened.
janet
Janet,
Hey thanks for reading about Cutch…he received his transmitter from an osprey who had ran into a Bus the year before…sad but true. It’s sad when you such majestic birds come to a harsh end.
Tom